Yes, Of Course: You’re a 10

An irksome downside to the Great Analytics Economy we’ve created is the need to keep the data-tanks full.  That means we’re being asked ince...

If You’re Comparing, You’re Probably Losing

Last century I rooted for the Red Sox.  I’m still a fan, but last century in particular they lost habitually to the Yankees.  This went on f...

Sounds Just Like Heaven

On an April evening in 1960, small-time crook Rocky Valentine was shot by police, only to awaken and find himself unharmed and in a world wh...

“Harper’s Index” Explains the Presidential Election

One of my favorite reads every month is Harper’s Magazine , and in particular, “Harper’s Index.”    The Index is a collection of data that ...

Up Until 1700 Nothing Much Happened

The Economist has a feature it calls “Flash Interview” in which the magazine lobs three seemingly innocent questions at some business or ec...

Mining Books: Just a Start

Last Thursday, Harvard and Google hosted the largest data release in the history of the humanities, a database of 500 billion words containe...

Too Much Lincoln

Suppose an entrepreneur tried to fund a business plan to develop and sell a “brilliant new operating system for computers.” The pitch: Bett...

Drink the Cheap Wine

I was born with one of the world’s worst palates, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Gourmet pasta with my wife on Friday evening? Superb...

The Second Best Chart of All-Time

Well, maybe not. But you'll agree that when graphical data is presented well (and we don't mean pie charts ), it can speak volumes....